Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) Downgraded at Cowen and Company

Shares of Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) were downgraded by analysts at Cowen and Company in a note to their investors today. With a rating of Underperform on the stock, Boston Beer Co. has a 52-week high of $260.51. The one-year price target of $164.00 is higher than the opening price of $151.74, causing a fair amount of other analysts to issue statements on the company recently. considerable and crucial digressions in the company’s procedures, future direction or industry can cause downgrades as the analysts believe that the future prospects for the security have weakened from the initial recommendation.

The Fed stood pat on interest rates on Wednesday, helping stocks to mostly higher levels but Chairwoman Janet Yellen indicated an interest rate hike is likely by year’s end

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 SPX, +1.09% ended 1.1% higher, while the Dow DJIA, +0.90% jumped by 0.9%, or 164 points, as each exchange finished in positive territory for a second consecutive day.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.03% tacked on 1% and scored a record closing high.

Yesterday Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) shares last traded at $151.06, which represents a decrease of $2.34 from the previous closing price. Opening at $151.74, they fluctuated from $146.87 and $153.85 throughout the day.

Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) currently has a market cap of 1.86B.

516,399 shares traded hands yesterday, above the average, out of a total float 7,544,000. Significant increases in trading volume and price inflation together could indicate heavy volume aggregation by institutional investors.

As with all potential breakouts, investors look for volume to be at least 40%-50% greater than normal on the breakout to demonstrate that fund managers and other professional investors are jumping in.

Institutional sponsorship is defined by ownership of a stock by mutual funds, banks, pension funds and other large institutions.

These instituitional investors retain teams of analysts researching thousands of stocks, so it is good corroboration to see them buying a stock you’re considering.

By identifying trends, moving averages allow traders to make those trends work in their favor and increase the number of successful trades.

Trades for Boston Beer Co. (NYSE: SAM) have ranged from $145.33 – 260.51, and the stock now has a 50-day MA of $179.64 and 200-day MA of $171.28. Today’s last price is 0.42% under the 52 week high of $260.51.

Earnings growth is a critical factor to consider when buying stocks and investors seek companies that have grown their earnings by at least 25% over the past 3 years.

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